Fluorine-modulated heteroatom interactions in boron imidazolate frameworks enabling efficient water electrolysis

Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have exceptional application in electrocatalysis due to their potential properties. Introducing heteroatoms to MOFs can improve their electrochemical responses by modifying the intrinsic electronic environment of carbon frameworks. This work presents fluorine incorporated Ni integrated N-doped graphitic carbon flakes (F@Ni/BNC-650) and (Ni/BNC-650). F@Ni/BNC-650 is developed by direct carbonization of fluorine doped Ni-boron imidazolate framework. F-doping modulates the surface composition and structure by synergistically providing charge polarizability in neighboring atoms and supporting the material's structural integrity. The results indicate that F@Ni/BNC-650 exhibits superior bi-functional electrocatalytic activity and exceptional stability with the overpotential value of only 85 mV and 223 mV for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) respectively. The developed electrocatalyst exhibits a very small cell potential of 1.53 V for overall water splitting and excellent long term stability. This study demonstrates the enhanced catalytic performance of BIF derived catalysts for the overall water splitting, and offers critical insights into the design and optimization of efficient electrocatalytic materials.